O’Malley’s Pub & Weston Brewing Company
Weston | 500 Welt Street • 816-640-5235 • WestonIrish.com/omalleys-pub In many ways, Weston was the town
Irish Pub. O’Malley’s calls itself a
precise temperature control during
that almost was. The golden days
pub—not an all-purpose tavern— but
the brewing process. The slaves who
of Weston were between 1837 and
its rich history is worth including.
built the cellars left hatch marks that
1860 when it was the last stop before
German immigrant John Geor-
are still visible in the stones. Usually,
the great wilderness of the western
gian built the lagering cellars that
Georgian paid the slaves a salary for
frontier. Before the fickle Missou-
house the underground pub in 1842.
their work and even used the cellars
ri River shifted its banks in another
Constructed of hand-cut stones, the
as part of the Underground Railroad,
direction, it was the second-largest
vaulted cellars of Weston Brewing
where runaways mingled with his
city in Missouri.
Company were dug 58 to 60 feet
enslaved people until they could get
There is no more unique bar in
into the earth and were among the
away safely.
Missouri—if not the whole of the
first lagering cellars in the nation.
Over the years, the cellars have
Midwest—than
Brewing
Using ice from frozen rivers in the
changed hands and have served many
Company, also known as O’Malley’s
winter, the buried cellars allowed for
uses. At one time, the bottom cellar
Weston
was used to house hogs; another time it was a sort of city dump. A fire claimed the lives of several people in 1860, and it’s rumored their ghosts haunt the underground. Staff might tell you that the cellars are haunted, and some employees are reticent to walk the tunnels alone. The old vaulted ceilings of the bar curve down, adorned with antique pageantry. The high ceiling offers great acoustics. Musicians such as Bob Reeder, an Irish folk singer, often play in the large vault. The bar today features a selection of Irish whiskey, as well as a wide range of beer brewed on-site, cocktails, and wine. The kitchen offers sandwiches, nachos, burgers, and EVAN HENNINGSEN
bangers. History and beer fans can go on brewery tours, available three times an afternoon on Saturdays. Tour reservations are encouraged.
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